C’mon, Bill, say you will try for the Hill

William Weld’s losing bid for an ambassadorship to Mexico in the late 1990s is now just a biographical footnote.

But the details of his failed battle are well worth recalling both for what it says about our former Republican governor and about our cynical expectations of politics. It also underscores why Weld, newly returned to Boston, is sorely needed in Washington.

In 1997, although eminently qualified for the ambassadorship, Weld was being blocked by a single senator, the late Jesse Helms, who claimed that the candidate was soft on drugs. It was a preposterous excuse for Helm’s real distaste — the rabid Republican didn’t like Weld’s moderate stance on social issues. Insiders urged Weld to grovel and capitulate. Instead, he held a news conference and bluntly accused Helms of “ideological extortion” in opposing his appointment.

“In plain language, I am not Sen. Helms’ kind of Republican,” Weld said. “I do not pass his litmus test on social policies, nor do I want to.”

The pundits were flummoxed. Why did Weld do it? What was he thinking? What were his real motives, his strategy? In the world of politics, where posturing and artifice trumps authenticity, hardly anyone could fathom the explanation most foreign — someone was telling the truth and speaking his mind.“The good news is, the guy has principle,” I wrote then. “The bad news is, we no longer recognize it when we see it.”

John Kerry is about to be nominated secretary of state, and the political world is buzzing about his possible replacement. Among Democrats, potential candidates include Ed Markey, Mike Capuano, Bill Keating and, of course, a Kennedy — Ted Jr. Meanwhile, the Dems fear a comeback by Republican Scott Brown, who won the special election after the death of Ted Kennedy but recently lost to Elizabeth Warren.

Brown would be fine. But Weld would be fabulous.

He is now 67 and a member of a Boston law firm. He has not said he wants to hold political office again. But he hasn’t ruled it out, either.

Here’s hoping he goes for it. By all accounts he is still brilliant, charming and armed with the same refreshing candor and quirky humor that frequently caught Bay Staters off guard when he reigned over Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997. Remember his fully clothed, unannounced dive into the Charles River, moments after he signed the Rivers Protection Bill? How about when he was nailed by a state trooper for driving 74 mph in a 65-mph zone and came out in support of raising the speed limit? And how could we forget his professed ardor for big cigars and “amber-colored”’ liquid?

One of my favorite lines came when former Senate President Billy Bulger teased the high-born Weld about his ancestors sailing here on the Mayflower.

“Actually, they weren’t on the Mayflower,” Weld said. “They sent the servants over first to get the cottage ready.” Imagine lines like that being spouted by politicians, who fall all over themselves to feign poverty-stricken backgrounds.

Granted, this isn’t “Downton Abbey,” and to-the-manor-born does not a leader make. But the Republican Party badly needs a Bill Weld to move it to the center. The former governor is a social liberal and fiscal conservative who believes in abortion rights and gay rights. Hardly a raving evangelical, he endorsed Barack Obama against John McCain. This time around, Weld endorsed Romney, a similarly well-heeled Harvard alum, but they couldn’t be more different in terms of style.

Peter Blute of Shrewsbury, a former Republican congressman and supporter of Scott Brown, said he believes Brown is “first in line” for Kerry’s U.S. Senate seat. In lieu of that scenario, he was enthusiastic about Weld.

“He is, as they say, a man among men,” Blute said. “He’s a first-rate intellectual and all-around good guy, with a welcoming spirit. He has that something. And he’d reflect a New England sensibility in Washington. Our founding fathers built the Senate for people like Weld: Highly educated, thoughtful and well meaning.”

Imagine sending a politician to Washington who gives off-the-cuff opinions on just about anything, without consulting his aides or the polling data. Imagine a guy so self-confident and relaxed that he is not afraid to be himself. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie comes close, and such political leaders are worth their weight in gold, especially these days.

They say you can’t go home again, but I hope that’s not true for Bill Weld. He’s back in Boston and I hope he runs.